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International Students (including Canadian students)
Challenging Midwifery Education Program Credits
I have a lot of clinical experience. Do I still have to complete the clinical portion of the program?
I am already working in health care (RN, lay midwife, etc.). Do I have to take all of the midwifery program academic courses or can I challenge some of them?I have a lot of clinical experience. Do I still have to complete the clinical portion of the program?
The clinical portion of your midwifery education at SMS is called Practicum. You must complete a certain number of hours in various skill sets, including observed births and involved births. It is possible to challenge some of these hours if you already have experience as a doula, midwife’s assistant, lay midwife or labor and delivery nurse. However, you can challenge only a portion of the Practicum credits. Please contact the admissions specialist if you think you may have experiences you could use to challenge practicum credits.I am already working in health care (RN, lay midwife, etc.). Do I have to take all of the midwifery program academic courses or can I challenge some of them?
You may be able to waive or challenge SOME coursework that is part of the actual midwifery program (this is not about prerequisites). However, many SMS courses are required of all students in the midwifery program and cannot be waived or challenged. You may attempt to waive or challenge any courses after you are accepted, but BEFORE you enter the program in the fall. The deadline is usually around the middle of July.To waive a course you must document that you have taken a course elsewhere that is the same as the SMS course in question. Waiver requests cost $50 per class and are non-refundable, even if the waiver is denied. Required documentation includes a transcript and a syllabus for the class you are waiving. The Midwifery Education Program Director makes the final decision on all waiver requests. If you successfully waive a course, you do not have to take it at SMS and you do not have to pay anything for it.
You may attempt to challenge an SMS course if you have experience or training that you feel is the equivalent of that course. Challenge requests cost $50 per class and are non-refundable, even if the challenge is denied. In addition, if you successfully challenge a course, you will still have to pay half its cost for the course BEFORE the quarter in which the course if offered. Before deciding to challenge a course, you may come in to our office to review the syllabus to see if it would be realistic for you to challenge that course. In order to challenge the course, you would take a test or demonstrate competency in some other way approved by the Midwifery Education Program Director, to prove you have fulfilled the educational objectives for that course.